Syria: Church of St Francis in Aleppo struck mid-Mass
Church of St Francis in Aleppo.
On Sunday October 25th during Sunday Mass, a shell struck the Latin Church of St. Francis in Aleppo, in the area of Azizyeh: "It was about 5:50 in the evening, inside the church there were at least 400 people and it was the moment of Holy Communion,” Bishop Georges Abou Khazen OFM, Apostolic Vicar for the Latin rite Catholics, told Fides news agency.
“It was an attack targeting Christians,” Fr. Ibrahim, a Franciscan Guardian of the Holy Land and parish priest of St. Francis’s in Aleppo, told Aid to the Church in Need on October 27th. “It happened just as I was preparing to distribute Communion. Suddenly, everything began shaking and inside the church debris began falling. There was so much dust that we could no longer see each other.” By good fortune, the projectile did not explode at the moment it struck the cupola but a few seconds later, sliding over the roof. “If it had exploded in the church, it would have caused a tragedy,” he emphasized. “But as I told the faithful, the mantle of the Virgin protected us.” After the moment of panic that followed the explosion, Fr. Ibrahim was able to reestablish calm. After checking that there were no seriously wounded, he invited his parishioners to gather in the churchyard where he gave them Communion. “Some were surprised by my reaction. But I draw my strength from our Lord, in union with him through prayer—the strength to move forward, with an even greater energy, now that we must repair our church.”
Six persons were slightly injured, but the material damages were significant. “The attack was not timed by chance to coincide with the Sunday evening mass, when the church was filled with 400 faithful,” added Fr. Ibrahim, and he said that “this is not the first time that they have tried to destroy our church, but they haven’t succeeded yet. Our church is the only one in the area that is still open. Many people come here to pray, and no doubt this is why they seek to destroy it.”
The morning after the attack, October 26th, the faithful returned for the morning Mass. “They were numerous, and we heard once more with joy the sound of our bell. We hope that all this chaos will end and we will soon be able to speak of it as we do of events in the past—without fear that similar attacks may recur at any moment…”
In an interview broadcast by Catholic Italian Radio in blu on October 21st last, Fr. Ibrahim Alsabagh specified that since Russian air strikes in Syria began, the situation in Aleppo has significantly improved, with the water and electricity supply becoming more reliable. His parish sees the Russian intervention as positive, “because it helped the regular army to defend the population” and put the men of Daesh to flight. “Over 85% of the Syrian population believes their intervention is beneficial,” Fr. Ibrahim stated. The Franciscan priest added that several jihadi groups continue to fire missiles on residences from some locations, but less often. The population in his quarter is experiencing the intervention with great relief.
(Sources: kipa-apic.ch – Fides – Aid to the Church in Need – Radio in blu – iMedia – DICI no.324 dated November 6, 2015)
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